Electric arcs or voltaic arcs formed in electrical circuits are known to cause many problems today because the heat energy produced during an electric arc is highly destructive. Some of these problems are: deterioration of the switch material, breakdowns and/or complete or partial destruction of electrical installations, including damage to people caused by burns or other types of injuries.
The problems in quenching electric arcs are particularly pronounced in direct current interruption where, unlike with alternating current, there is no zero-crossing, so an arc forms and it must be eliminated as quickly as possible by means of deionizing the medium and increasing dielectric strength.
Several techniques are known today for extinguishing electric arcs formed when the contacts in a breaker switch or disconnect switch open and close. The common objective shared by all these techniques is for the energy dissipated in the heat of the electric arc to be as little as possible, with the ultimate goal of being nil. To that end, time control is the critical variable that is acted on so that the rate of extinction of the electric arc is as rapid as possible.
Several techniques are known to meet said objective, among which the following must be pointed out:
a) Increase in the gap between the fixed and moving contacts of the electric switch, which involves a larger volume of air between them and therefore a larger size of the switch.                Increase in speed of tripping devices.        Radial interruption.        Connecting simultaneous contacts in series.        
b) Increase in length or “elongation” of the electric arc for one and the same instant in time.                Spark quenching chambers.        Magnetic and pneumatic blowout.        
c) Cooling the electric arc using auxiliary means to reduce harmful heat effects, such as for example the use of pressurized sulfur hexafluoride SF6.
d) Acting on the dielectric strength of the medium to prevent the arc from lighting up again because of the influence of the electric field due to differences in potential.
However, though there are currently electric breaker switches combining some of the techniques mentioned above, i.e., spark quenching chamber with magnetic or pneumatic blowout, radial rather than linear separation of contacts, etc., said switches today still do not satisfactorily solve their main function of quenching electric arcs, because the quenching time is still too long and material is still subject to deterioration, particularly in very demanding applications such as high power direct current interruption.
Furthermore, techniques known for quenching arcs generally involve an increase in the volume of the switches due to the volume of air needed between contacts.
Operation of switch breaker mechanisms usually involves some type of impact between parts, which in the long-term causes deterioration due to material wear which can lead to destruction of the switch.
On the other hand, as the power and intensity which passes through a switch increases, it is necessary to:                optimize current interruption technology.        increase the size of switches. This technique is illustrated in FIG. 1 and is used by most manufacturers of switches of this type. It consists of adding poles, i.e., an electric junction assembly between fixed and moving contacts, in series, such that they allow splitting the arc into smaller loads (same intensity, less voltage between the contacts of each pole), so it is easier to quench the electric arc that is formed.        
In relation to the diagram of FIG. 1, it can be seen in a more detailed manner that the technique discussed above consists of replacing a simple switch (1) such as that shown in FIG. 1A consisting of a single breaker element (2), with a switch (1) consisting of multiple breaker elements (2, 2″, 2′″) connected in series as shown in FIG. 1B.
The advantages of connecting the poles in series as shown in FIG. 1B are listed below:                Splitting the arc into smaller loads makes interrupting it easier.        Splitting the electric arc increases the electrical endurance (life cycle) of the contacts because they are subjected to less power and therefore suffer less and deteriorate less.        
However, there are also drawbacks associated with said connection in series:                It is necessary to increase the size of the switch to house more poles.        A larger amount of conductive material is used.        The working temperature increases as there are 2, 3 or more poles connected in series withstanding the same current as one pole.        Energy consumption increases because each pole is equivalent to a resistance and since the poles are grouped in series, an equivalent final resistance equal to the sum of all resistances is obtained. Therefore, by applying Joule's law (P=I2R) the power increases in a directly proportional manner. If resistance is three times greater, the heat output due to Joule's effect is three times greater.        
As can be seen, the advantages of connecting the poles in series contribute to optimizing the dynamic state, i.e., when the electric arc is interrupted; however, it involves an enormous drawback in the idle or permanent state they are in for 95% of their service life, which entails greater energy consumption.
In relation to the conductive materials used in a switch from the state of the art, since the contacts have to perform both functions, i.e., transient and permanent states, an agreement has to be met in choosing the materials and oversizing them to prolong service life. Materials that are good electrical conductors are generally used, but those materials are soft and poorly arc resistant, so they require external coatings or treatments to improve their arc resistance and increase their melting temperature. This increases manufacturing costs, and the chosen material is never optimal for both the transient and permanent states.
Energy consumption of a switch is produced by heat losses caused by Joule's effect due to its internal resistance, a value which is directly related to the design and the conductive materials used.E=P·t=R·I2·t Where:E is energy; P is electric power; t is time; R is electrical resistance, and I is electric intensity.